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An Essay About Time

Time is a concept that vexes and amazes me. It’s something that I can give a satisfactory answer but at the same time thinking about it I cannot comprehend the philosophical themes that surround it. Quantifying time is what made the modern world possible. Without it, we cannot organise our lives. It would be a scenario where we just tread along day after day, no singular purpose on why we do what we do. I myself collect wrist watches. It’s something that brings me joy to be able to know what time is. Whether we use our smartphones or other devices, we cannot escape looking what the time is. Time has become a necessity but ultimately an inescapable trap for me. A dungeon where humanity finds it hard to break free.

When time became measurable, humanity’s enslavement to it became inevitable. The perpetuity of the two hands passing through each hour everyday, as day becomes night the cycle seems to never stop. Our lives became intertwined with time. Our birth is marked to the minute, our death will surely be the same. We get up, go to work or school and go home each day. Habit is the product of our subservience to time. Activities become banal, life fused itself into the hours, minutes, and seconds. I cannot escape the feeling of being in a prison of daily habit. An abyss of never ending tedium. It’s an invisible enemy that we fail to recognise for it has become such an important part of our lives. I think that’s where boredom comes from. Our failure to break out of habit and the inability to make good use of time. I cannot blame other people who exclaims: “What is the meaning of it all?”, “Why do I feel unhappy at what I’m doing?” The poor souls who have become prisoners. Habit becomes boredom and boredom becomes misery. Such is the simple truths that can be found in life. It’s this power time holds that I find fascinating and at the same time horrifying.

To resist is futile. That pretty much is true for me. Time is like a beast that can never be defeated but I think we have a good chance of taming. No matter how much I try to do something new or try new experiences, it would be inevitable for me to get sucked in the abyss all over again. As the time moves clockwise, life surely imitates it. A loop with no end, a void that is hard to escape. I guess death will have the final say. I cannot provide the silver bullet that would end such tyranny but I think enjoying the time one finds himself in can make the experience bearable at the very least. Happiness comes with acceptance. It is one of my greatest beliefs that a person must be aware of oneself; to be aware that you are in a prison. It is the antidote one needs to wake up from habit. It is a constant struggle to break free but it always feels unstoppable to get bound by it again. Sisyphus is our great ancestor. I could even say that even trying to break free is in itself a never ending situation. Life is time. Time is life. Time rules over life. Wise words to live by I guess.